


Tenderness

by Gee_Writes



Series: 勝生 [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Gen, Growing Up, Ice Skating, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, POV Female Character, POV Outsider, Pre-Canon, Reflection, Yuuko POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26047327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gee_Writes/pseuds/Gee_Writes
Summary: The first time Yuuko saw Viktor Nikiforov, it was in her stuttery home-recorded tape of the 2004 GPF.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Nishigori Yuuko, Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov
Series: 勝生 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/714663
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Tenderness

**Author's Note:**

> The 優 of 優子 means tenderness

The first time Yuuko saw Viktor Nikiforov, it was in her stuttery home-recorded tape of the 2004 GPF. She had heard the name before from snippets of skating news that had made its way to their local rink, but they rarely televised the junior events back then (or, at least, on the channels local to Hasetsu they didn’t. It was only by the grace of Okukawa-sensei’s mutual interest that she was able to record the Seniors).

His debut was breathtaking and magical and the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Beautiful silver-blond fluttering like a ribbon with every move, and inky costume catching the rink lights and audience’s eyes perfectly. His smile so wide and performance so convincing, Yuuko was almost certain she had heard the joyous ring of laughter as he danced on the ice. He had taken gold as if the top place on the podium was rightfully his—still gangly and boyish stood between his competitors.

She was fourteen and completely starstruck. Viktor, only two years older, was like every prince she had dreamed of growing up, but real. Ice skating was already her favourite thing in the world, but the Russian teen was as beautiful and graceful as any of the female skaters. She wanted to meet him, but she also wanted to be _like_ him. Executing gold-winning programs with grace and ease, a smile never faltering as she filled the ice with the story of her skating.

Of course, the first person she shares this discovery with is Yuuri. And in him is a mirror of herself: the sparkling excitement in his eyes, the instantaneous and complete obsession, the unfightable attraction to the Russian boy and his expressive story. Yuuri has always understood the dizzying desire of perfecting a routine; more than any of the other kids who skate at the Ice Castle, more than her school friends or family. They watch the tape again and again until the playback gets warped with use, stepping through the moves they can’t do yet and piecing together the rest. It’s less pair skating and more synchronised dance. Yuuko flipping her ponytail perfectly _just so_ like Viktor, Yuuri transitioning from his spins to step sequences as perfectly as the Russian darling himself.

It’s something the two of them do together for the next several years: chasing the perfection of the older boy and his record-breaking programs every season. Between his new Short Programs and Free Skates, and the Junior programs they had found thanks to Okukawa-sensei and extensive internet searches, the two of them always had material to practice.

At some point the gap started to widen though, and Yuuko couldn’t help but feel like she was slipping behind. School and dating and graduation and her family’s expectations of a suitable future all slowly pushed skating, and Viktor Nikiforov, into a lower priority. Her skating career had never meant to be a serious undertaking, but Yuuri thrived as he slowly attended more and more competitions. His nights seesawed between the studio and the rink; her childhood friend quickly gaining his own notoriety amongst local and international fans alike. It made her wonder about whether his first reaction to Viktor had really been the same as hers, or if something more intrinsic, more passionate, had grabbed Yuuri that day. Yuuko thought of Viktor as a prince upon the ice: an ethereal perfection that only existed in fairytales and to gaze at in awe. Yuuri was actively chasing him down—wanting to reach the same heights, and not even questioning if he could, even if he hadn’t realised it himself. Sure her friend had always been ready to downplay his own achievements, but the option of merely existing as a fan within the crowd had never crossed his mind.

After her wedding, her pregnancy, Yuuri’s move to Detroit, she never mimicked the champion programs of the Russian skater again on the ice. She’d watch them, starstruck as always, but with no burning urge to attempt the spins and jumps of the story. She’d text Yuuri her fangirling and well-wishes every competition, and smile later when she’d recognise a piece of footwork or graceful arc of a jump—unsure if it’s Viktor still living inside Yuuri’s skating, or if it’s the years of watching the youngest Katsuki creating his own melodies on the ice. He’s the town’s pride and joy, and her personal hero; refusing to let the world ignore Yuuri Katsuki and everything he’s always been.

The Yuuri that returns to Hasetsu is a little older, but his layer of chub and bashful embarrassment is every part of his twelve-year-old self she remembers of that day. Side-by-side as they’re glued to the television, trying to figure out footwork from obscured angles. Fully entranced by the future figure skating legend as he broke into the world’s, and their, awareness. Yuuri asks for skates and her audience, and how could she ever say no? The music for _Stay Close to Me_ never starts through the sound system as he starts the routine, but she can hear it all the same. A soulful cry of longing as she watches him skate—a heady mix of his emotions hitting and merging with hers as she watches. The despair of his past failures, her loneliness since he left, their past selves and the choices that pushed them down different paths. But most of all she feels the happiness and hope for the future, tears suddenly slipping down her cheeks as she watches. It’s another of Viktor’s programs, which she had loved watching during the season’s competitions, but Yuuri’s is _better_. More complete. She quietly wonders if Yuuri knows he’s reached the peak he’s been chasing, or if it’s still just a familiar role for him to retreat into now. It wasn’t planned to be filmed, but she’s quietly, privately grateful it is (even if it just proves her kids are bigger hellions than she wants to admit). It means the world can finally see Yuuri Katsuki in his best light: free and unburdened, joyful in the return to his core.

The first time Yuuko meets Viktor Nikiforov, it’s as Yuuri’s stuttering excuses and explanations as to why their biggest idol flew himself halfway across the globe to the warm waters of Yu-topia Katsuki Onsen. He’s not as polished as when he’s behind a television screen, but he’s still dazzling in the way she assumes any proximity with celebrity would be. Despite that though, there’s an odd level of familiarity she feels—Viktor was such a large part of their youth, it’s hard to consider him a stranger now, even if all she knows about him comes from the dozens of interviews he’s given.

When she’s busying herself with cleaning up rinkside, trying her best to inconspicuously eavesdrop on the two skaters, she’s struck by something else that seems familiar.

It’s the look in Viktor’s eyes, subdued but so like the first sparkle she had seen in Yuuri’s. The excitement and _something else_ , burning deep and unshakeably. A potential from that two of them that will be exhilarating to watch develop, whatever it may be.

It really was like a fairytale.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, welcome to the latest addition to this series! I also have another entry I'm working on so I'm hoping to have that written and posted soon.
> 
> For everyone new to this self-indulgent little series of feel-good family & friend fluff, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> For all the amazing returning readers, despite my long absence, thank you so much for the continued support!


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